Emperor Franz Joseph I

Last week I was in Austria and there I visited the philatelic shop in Salzburg.

There I bought this stamp:

100th death anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I (issued 27-08-2016)

Franz Joseph became the Emperor of Austria in 1848 at the age of 18 after his uncle Ferdinand I abdicated in the course of the Revolutions in the Austrian Empire. In 1854 he married Elisabeth "Sisi", the duchess of Bavaria. During his life he had to suffer many strokes of fate. His first child Sophie died in 1857, his brother Maximilian was executed in Mexico in 1867, his only son Rudolf committed suicide in 1889, Sisi was killed in 1898 and his nephew and the heir apparent Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 in Sarajevo. Although he did not want a war he wanted to demonstrate power against the Kingdom of Serbia and agreed to an ultimatum. After 68 years on the throne Franz Joseph I died in 1916 in Schönbrunn Palace.